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Thomas Burman, Emmy®-winning make-up artist, and Martin Samuel, Oscar®-nominated film and celebrity hair stylist, will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Annual Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards honoring outstanding achievements for make-up artists and hair stylists in motion pictures, television, commercials, and live theater. The black-tie awards gala returns to the NOVO by Microsoft in L.A. Live on Saturday, January 11, 2020.
Thomas Burman has an award-winning career in motion pictures and television for over five decades. He has won seven Emmy Awards, received 31 Emmy nominations, and one Oscar nomination, among many other accolades. Burman hired one of the first two women make-up artists, paving the way for many talented women into the field. He established the title “special make-up effects” which is still used today and discovered new materials (Burman Foam) to improve the work of make-up artists around the globe. His documentary film Making Apes, honoring the crew that changed make-up history, recently premiered at the New Filmmakers LA Festival.
Burman’s career began in 1966 when he apprenticed with Ben Nye at 20th Century FOX Studios, later becoming an assistant to John Chambers on Planet of the Apes in 1967. In 1973, Tom and father Ellis Burman joined Chambers, starting the first independent make-up effects studio serving motion pictures and Television. The Burmans created groundbreaking make-up effects for Phantom of the Paradise, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Devil’s Rain, Food of the Gods and A Man Called Horse 2. Additional film credits include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Demon Seed, The Manitou, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Prophet, The Island of Dr. Moreau and A Man Called Horse, for which Tom created the full torso prosthetics.
Proficient in all types of make-up and prosthetics, Burman went on to create memorable television visions including his work on The Tracey Ullman Show, Best of Tracey, Tracey Takes On…, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The X-Files, CSI (pilot), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (pilot), Chicago Hope, Grey’s Anatomy and Nip/Tuck. Sadly, while working on the three-part PBS series Primal Man, they had the tragedy of losing the entire crew in an airplane crash. A true leader in the field, Burman hired one of the first women make-up artists, Charlene Roberson, to create disguises for the William Shatner TV series Barbary Coast.
An internationally renowned film and celebrity hair stylist, Martin Samuel is acclaimed for his period hair styling and expertise with wigs, working with leading actors and rock stars. During Samuel’s career spanning the last 40 years, he is credited with more than 60 films, including three Oscar nominations: Hitchcock (2013), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2008) and Curse of the Black Pearl (2004). He won both the BAFTA and Local 706 Guild Award for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2004. His additional film credits include Wild Wild West, Angels and Insects, Blow, Burlesque, Love and Mercy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Rich and Famous.
Samuel is a three-time Emmy nominee for his character wig work for Tracey Ullman on State of the Union. In addition to his work as a personal hair stylist for Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, he created the iconic looks for David Bowie on The Man Who Fell to Earthand went on to be his personal hair stylist on the Station to Station Tour. He was also the chief stylist for Pink Floyd: The Wall and nominated for a BAFTA Award for his creations of 42 outstanding hair styles for Madonna’s performance as Eva Peron in Evita.
He started his career in Europe and the UK, but later moved to Hollywood and began working at Universal Studios on Coal Miner’s Daughter and Xanadu. He became a journeyman in Local 706 and has worked primarily as a Department Head since 1979. Proudly, he has also received his 706 Gold Card.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to one make-up artist and one hair stylist for extraordinary Lifetime Achievement, exceptional contributions to the motion picture arts and sciences, or outstanding service to their union or the entertainment industry. Previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Make-Up Artists are Sue Cabral-Ebert, Greg Cannon, Leonard Engelman, Ve Neill, Rick Baker, Montague “Monty” Westmore, Bob Schiffer, John Chambers, Jack Pierce, Daniel Striepeke and Dick Smith. Previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hair Stylists are Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Guerrero, Barbara Lorenz, Yolanda Toussieng, Kathryn Blondell, Sydney Guilaroff, Vivienne Walker, Paul LeBlanc, Colleen Callaghan and Gail Ryan.
Additional awards will honor a Distinguished Artisan and nominees for outstanding achievements in motion pictures, television, commercials and live theater. Online voting will be made at www.local706.org. Nominations for this year’s awards will be announced on Monday, November 11, 2019. Final ballot on-line voting closes on Friday, January 3, 2020. Winners will be announced at the Annual Awards Gala on Saturday, January 11, 2020.
The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylist Guild Awards is proud to be sponsored by Diamond Sponsors: HASK Beauty, EI School of Professional Make-up; Silver Sponsors: His & Her Hair; Media Sponsors: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety.
